Internet Hotstove is a series where Last Word On Sports asks the opinions of respected bloggers from around the internet about their team’s chances in the 2013-14 NHL Playoffs. The goal is to get a broad view of opinion from around the league as an alternative to other playoff previews.
After last year’s disappointment, the Philadelphia Flyers were determined not to allow a disastrous season like that to happen again. Instead, they showed the rest of the league that the season before was a fluke, and have bounced back with plenty of positivity this year. But they are not done yet, as they enter the 2013-14 Playoffs with more to prove. Against the New York Rangers they will feel they have a good opportunity to advance past the first round. If the goaltending can hold up, who knows how far this team will go.
Meet the Bloggers:
Stephen Dolan- Flyers writer for Examiner.Com @FlyersRants
Sean Cobourn- Founder of FlyersNation.Net @FlyersNation
1. Who is the Flyers X-Factor going into the playoffs?
Dolan: Many believe the Flyers X-Factor going into the playoffs was Steve Mason. Based on his injury against the Pittsburgh Penguins on April 12th and the rather uninspired play in Game 1, it is clear the Flyers X-Factor is Claude Giroux. The captain got off to a slow start this season and, coincidentally, so did the Flyers. Whether Giroux’s slow start caused the Flyers’ slow start or vice versa is still up for debate.
What is not debatable is Giroux’s importance to the Flyers success. In the regular season, the Flyers walked away with points in 22 of the 24 games in which Giroux scored going 21-2-1. When Giroux registered at least one point, the Flyers went 34-15-3 so the team’s success looks to be directly correlated to Giroux. The Flyers’ struggles at Madison Square Garden are well-documented as they have lost nine straight but over the Flyers’ last 16 games at the Garden, they are 3-0 when Giroux scores and 1-12 when he does not. Neutralizing the Flyers captain will make it a short spring for the Flyers but failing to account for him could carry them into early June.
Cobourn: Brayden Schenn, the 2nd line needs to make an impact. Some nights they don’t show up.
2. Will the Flyers goaltending hold up in the crucial games?
Dolan: Each and every year around this time, the Flyers goaltending gets called into question – rightly so I might add. But this year is different. The Flyers seem to have a No. 1 goaltender they can rely on heading into the playoffs. Steve Mason won 33 games for Philadelphia this season while posting a .917 save percentage and a 2.50 goals-against-average. Mason got hot at the right time down the stretch for the Flyers and was a big reason why they were able to accumulate so many points in March and the beginning of April.
The injury to Mason hurts but they have a veteran goaltender backing him up in Ray Emery, who won a Stanley Cup with Chicago last year. Emery is more than capable as a backup and has carried a team to the Stanley Cup Finals in the past with Ottawa in 2007. How long Mason is out or how he comes back is the real Wild Card here. In short, the goaltending should be able to withstand the pressures of the playoffs but the injury to Mason makes that a little less of a sure thing.
Cobourn: To be honest I don’t know, Steve Mason hasn’t been in the playoffs since his Calder Trophy season in 2009. Plus this is his first year since then where he’s been a good goalie. Mason (.917) has given up some softies this campaign, but he’s made tons of timely saves too.
3. What is the Flyers Achilles heel in the playoffs?
Dolan: The Achilles heel for the Flyers is going to be themselves. It sounds cliché but it is true. They’ve proven throughout different points in the season that they can hang with the best teams in the NHL. Their goaltending has been solid. Their defense has been stable and consistent since the acquisition of Andrew MacDonald from the New York Islanders. Their offense is potent with an NHL-high seven 20-goal scorers featuring four lines that feature at least one 20-goal scorer. The pieces are there for a long playoff run but only they can get in their own way.
Teams are going to focus on shutting down the top line of Claude Giroux-Jakub Voracek-Scott Hartnell. If teams succeed in doing so, the next three lines need to step up and provide some scoring. They are more than capable but that wasn’t shown on Thursday night in New York. The Flyers cannot afford to get in their own way. They need to establish a presence early, play a strong 60-minute game with a diligent forecheck and stay out of the penalty box. Straying from that game-plan, which has proven to be successful, could oust the Flyers.
Cobourn: From watching the 2012 playoffs and the last three regular seasons, I’d say tight checking and/or trap teams (Devils, Rangers, Blue Jackets etc.). The top line gets shutdown.
4. Special teams have been huge for the Flyers this year, how crucial are they to playoff success?
Dolan: Special teams are going to make or break the Flyers in the playoffs. It’s that simple. Philadelphia is the No. 1 most penalized team in the NHL taking an average of 14.4 penalty minutes per game so discipline is a must. Despite have a strong penalty kill that ranked seventh in the NHL at 84.8% this season, they need to stay out of the box. They cannot afford to be handing momentum away. Look no further than Game 1 against the Rangers. The Flyers looked like they might be starting to get something going offensively in the third period when rookie forward Jason Akeson came across and was called for a double-minor for high-sticking Carl Hagelin. New York when on to score twice on the power play and that all but sealed it for the Rangers. Every possession is important in the playoffs and they must stay out of the box.
On the flip side, the Flyers need to capitalize when on the power play. They have the seventh ranked power play in the NHL at 19.8% but are the top road power play team in the league operating at nearly 25.0%. They can score in a variety of different ways. The most effective way is the high-low screen from Scott Hartnell and Wayne Simmonds which takes away almost all sight-lines from opposing goaltenders. Its effectiveness is clear in the numbers as Simmonds scored a team-high 15 of his 29 goals on the power play while Hartnell was second on the team in power play goals with nine. The Flyers need to grab momentum when the opposition hands it to them. It will decide the series that figures to be close until the very end.
Cobourn: Very crucial if you want to make the most of the few times the refs use whistles in the playoffs.
5. How far do you think the Flyers will go?
Dolan: This is a loaded question as I don’t know any future matchups haha. I think the Flyers have the pieces to make a long playoff run. The goaltending is actually solidified for the first time in over a decade while their defensive core is steady. They aren’t great but they get the job done. And their forwards are as deep as any group of forwards in the NHL. As I said before, the pieces are there.
I don’t like the matchup with the Rangers and I’m not overly comfortable with having to beat Henrik Lundqvist and Ryan McDonagh is a seven-game series. I think whoever wins this series will make a run to the conference finals and, if they avoid Boston in the conference finals, I think the winner of this series (if they aren’t too beat up) will be the Eastern Conference Champions. Since I can’t bring myself to pick the Rangers to beat the Flyers, I say the Flyers make it to the Conference Finals (and hopefully avoid Boston).
Cobourn: If they can get past the Rangers in the first round, they’ll be eliminated in the conference finals against the Bruins. I think PHI NYR goes 7 games, MSG is their house of horrors though having lost eight straight there. Nobody will get past Boston in the east.
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